


Only You In My Thoughts

by Cyrrus



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Confessions, F/F, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Near Death Experiences, White Rose Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24647326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyrrus/pseuds/Cyrrus
Summary: In the aftermath of a surprise attack, Ruby is left with a grave injury that threatens her life. Weiss carries her across the snow-covered forest of Atlas in search of help, but hope dwindles with each step she takes. It doesn't help that Ruby insists on stopping her, something else on her mind that she wants to set free before she slips away into unconsciousness.
Relationships: Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 7
Kudos: 111





	Only You In My Thoughts

The trek through the frigid taiga that surrounds Atlas would be difficult even without the body slung across her back, but Weiss can’t find it in herself to care. She’s aching, she’s bleeding, and she’s panting enough to cloud her vision with fog whenever her breath meets the cold air. Yet Weiss forces herself onwards despite her discomfort. Something far more important is driving her. She pauses for a second to readjust her grip, keeping Ruby on her back as she locks her hands around the back of her knees. ‘One step after the other,’ Weiss thinks. Her boots slosh through the snow.

“Weiss.”

She doesn’t respond. She already knows what Ruby is going to ask of her, and it’s not something she’s going to humor. Just keep going, Schnee. Don't think, just move.

“Weiss… stop.”

‘Ignore her.’ Weiss grits her teeth, only to clamp her mouth shut when the chilling wind reminds her of its presence. As much as she tries to focus, the rasp and strain in Ruby’s voice makes her heart sink into a pool of anxiety. Possibilities she dares not think about try to pry their way into the forefront of her mind. Recent memories plague her thoughts instead. It was a surprise attack. She remembers raising Myrtenaster far too late. Then red aura shattering and the horrible shriek that accompanied it that won’t stop replaying in her head.

“Weiss!”

Ruby is trying to yell, that much is obvious, but it morphs into a haggardly coughing fit. It grants Ruby her wish, the movement just enough to throw Weiss’s balance into limbo, and she falls forward with a gasp. Weiss lands on her knees and it takes all of her dwindling strength to not collapse face first into the snow. Her breathing becomes labored, and her limbs tremble traitorously.

“We… we’ll take a break,” Weiss whispers. “I need to redress your wound.” She knows it’s an excuse, and she knows that Ruby knows it’s an excuse. Loathe as she is to admit it, having to fight for their lives and then carry her partner has brought her to near exhaustion.

A little nudge pokes the back of her head, so she assumes Ruby heard. Halfway between and walk and a crawl, Weiss pulls them both to a tree a few meters ahead.

Weiss brushes aside snow with her boot and flattens out a spot to set Ruby down in. She leans her partner against the tree trunk and then stretches her back, relieved to have a moment to catch her breath. It’d be a relaxing moment if only she didn’t see all the blood. Weiss freezes up at the sight of the sickly horrid red color staining both of their clothes. The gash across her partner’s chest is so much worse than she realized when she first saw it, blinded by adrenaline after the fight. It trails from beneath Ruby’s neck to her stomach, and there might as well not be any bandages covering it with how much she’s bled through them.

It’s not until Ruby looks up at her with a half lidded, dreary expression does Weiss snap out of her trance. “Hold still. I need to fix this,” she says. ‘If that’s even possible,’ an unwelcome voice in the back of her head whispers.

“Uh-huh.” Ruby’s head falls back against the tree. Her voice is raspy as if her vocal cords rubbed against sand paper. Her eyes flutter, and Weiss can’t help but grimace. She waves her hand in front of the other girl’s face.

“Keep your eyes open. Please.” Weiss rubs her hands together to beat out the cold, only to realize it’s anxiety making her hands shiver. She wills herself to concentrate and begins the arduous task of getting the old bandages off. The fleshy sound it elicits makes her skin crawl.

She already used their emergency supplies the first time she did this, and Weiss curses herself for not bringing more. There are a lot of regrets pounding through her head right now. When the bandages come off, Weiss thinks quickly. She can’t keep the wound exposed in this environment for long, but with no bandages she’s forced to improvise.. Careful not to disturb her partner, she unfurls the red cloak from around her neck.

"Is this okay, Ruby?"

"..."

Weiss freezes in place. Please no... "Ruby?" she whispers, eyes widening as they stare at her partner's still form. Trembling with nerves, she leans in closer

Ruby’s eyes flicker open again, and the world resumes around Weiss. She hangs her head, heaving with relief. The pleasant feeling wears off quickly. It’s a grim reminder of the danger they’re in.

“Weiss… go.”

“Go fix your wound? I’m doing that.” Weiss keeps her eyes firmly trained on her work, not daring to meet Ruby’s gaze. She’s not confident she can keep up her facade if she did.

Of course, Ruby doesn’t drop it that easily. “Go on. I’m slowing you down… might be more grimm,” she mumbles. It takes Weiss a few moments to decipher what she said, and when she does, she grips the fabric of Ruby’s cloak tight enough to turn her knuckles white.

Weiss doesn’t respond at first, pouring all her attention into redressing the gnarled slice across Ruby’s torso - there’s still so much damn blood! - and her voice is icy when she speaks. “Shut up.”

“Weiss--”

“I said shut up! I’m not leaving you behind.”

It seems to get the message across. Ruby goes silent save for coughs and gasps whenever Weiss has to adjust her body to tie the cloak into place. Weiss starts to finish her handiwork, not that it’s anywhere near satisfaction. All that matters is buying time, she attempts to tell herself. Getting Ruby to help is enough or else she’ll… Her thoughts ring hollow. She doesn’t want or need to finish that sentence.

When her partner speaks again, the change in her tone catches Weiss off guard. She’s practically cheery if one can ignore the pain creeping into her voice. “I wanted to do something special when we got back. H-have dinner with you… just you.”

Weiss lets her bangs continue to fall across her face, hiding her from Ruby. “We can still do that when I get you to safety.”

“I’ve wanted to do that for-” She’s interrupted by another hacking fit. A stream of red drips from her mouth when she lays her head back against the tree trunk. “For a long time.”

“And you will. You…” Weiss swallows hard. It’s growing harder and harder to keep up her stoicism, and it feels like the weight of it all is going to come crushing down and shatter her to pieces. “Why are you telling me this now?” she asks, fearing she already knows the answer. ‘Because there might not be another chance…’

Ruby's face twists with discomfort when she moves her hand and slips it into Weiss’s. “You’re so pretty Weiss. I’d do anything for you…”

“Where is this coming from? Why are you acting like…” Anything for her? Sure. She has a request. “T-then stop pretending you’re going to _die!_ ” she snaps.

“But you need to be realistic.” Her hand falls from Weiss’s, then it rises to tilt up her partner’s chin. She doesn’t have the strength to do it on her own, so Weiss obliges albeit reluctantly. Their eyes finally meet again, silver against cyan. “I-it’s not safe, Weiss. Go. I’m already...”

The gaspy voice. The sad resolve in those eyes. Being forced to confront what she’d be dreading. Altogether, it’s enough to shatter the walls Weiss laid down. Tears form in her eyes, but she clings to one last bit of resistance trying to fight off the inevitable truth. “If you’re so insistent on dying,” she hisses, “any last words?”

“I love you.”

Something deep inside of Weiss snaps in two. She sits up straight, leaning away from Ruby. When their eyes meet again, Weiss’s are full of anger and shining with wetness. “No.”

“...Weiss?”

“No!” She jabs her pointer finger into Ruby’s collar, not caring that she makes the girl cringe in pain. “I’m not leaving you to die after saying that. Choose something else.”

Then Ruby’s expression curls into a weak little grin. “I can’t think of anything else,” she laughs. Weiss stops thinking.

No more words pass. Ruby hears Weiss sniffling. Her vision is an unhelpful blur, but she knows the blue and white form in front of her is her beloved. Weiss holds her hand over her mouth, trying and failing to stifle herself. She closes the distance between them again, wrapping her arms around her as if the tighter she holds, the less of a chance Ruby has to ever leave her. She welcomes Weiss, leaning in to rest her head on her shoulder. She’d hug her back if she had the strength, but everything is heavy right now.

That must include her eyelids, because her vision starts to darken. Or maybe that’s because she’s losing consciousness? Whichever. Rest sounds nice right now. She can’t think of a better place for it than in the arms of the girl she loves, though a pang of sadness runs through her whenever Weiss’s body shakes with sobs. Ruby thinks better of reminding her she needs to go, and lets her have this moment.

As the lure of sleep takes over, she doesn’t notice the pain anymore. She doesn’t notice the frigid wind, and she barely makes out a pair of voices calling hers and Weiss’s name in the distance. As long as she’s with Weiss, she’s as comfortable as can be. Darkness takes her.

~

The only sound in the room is the hum of fluorescent lights and a heart monitor. Weiss sets aside the tray of food in her lap, untouched and uneaten like the others that were brought to her by the rest of her team. The hospital’s cafeteria food tastes like mush anyways.

She scoots her chair forward and crosses her arms on the hospital bed in front of her to give her chin a place to rest. It brings her closer to Ruby, and that’s more than she can ask for right now. The events of the mission a few nights ago replay in her mind like a broken cassette tape, and she keeps picking out every mistake she could have avoided that might have changed how the mission played out.

“Ruby...” she murmurs as she gazes up at her partner, wrapped in bandages and tucked under the covers. Weiss figures she used up a lifetime’s supply of luck when Blake and Yang found them huddled together, her a weeping mess and Ruby slipping into unconsciousness. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough luck to keep Ruby awake. The doctors insist that she should wake up in due time followed by a lengthy recovery period, not that it puts Weiss’s fears to rest (they also insist that Weiss leave to get a proper night’s sleep, which she ignores each time).

Weiss wants to apologize, but she can already hear Ruby’s voice scolding her. ‘Not your fault,’ she’d claim, and ‘nothing to be sorry for.’ Then Weiss would repeat her apologies, and Ruby would smile in that pleasant little way she always does, and simply shake her head. She can picture it all so clearly. As tears prick at her eyes again, she reaches out and cups Ruby’s cheek. The touch is warm, but there’s no response. “Please... come back.”

She buries her face in her arm, preparing herself to spend another night in anguish. Then something unexpected happens. A warm presence settles on her hand. Weiss’s eyes widen, but she dares not look up and risk disappointment if her tired mind is imagining the feeling. Then a gentle sound reaches her ears, and Weiss sits up in a hurry. “Weiss,” a soft voice mutters, almost too quiet to hear.

A pair of silver eyes gaze down at her, and the grip on Weiss’s hand tightens by a degree. She looks dazed and exhausted, but it’s her.

Ruby.

Weiss has half a mind to pinch herself to check if she’s dreaming, but she can’t deny it any longer. She doesn’t want to deny it at all. A smile laced with unrestrained joy and elation spreads across her face. “Ruby!” she calls, still in disbelief.

Ruby’s mouth opens and then closes, and it becomes apparent that her voice can’t be relied on right now. She looks as if she could pass out at any moment, yet she continues to smile oh so serenely. Weiss doesn’t bother waiting for a proper response, pouncing her dearest and throwing her arms around her. She’s careful not to squeeze and hurt Ruby, but she knows she gets the message across.

“I love you too,” Weiss whispers. She doesn’t plan to ever let go.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I've got at least one more work planned for White Rose Week, so expect another short story in the coming days. Comments are appreciated if you'd like to leave one!


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